Love Off It's Mark
by newbienovelistRD
Summary: Spider Man welcomes Raven Queen and C.A. Cupid to New York for Valentine's Day. What could go wrong?


Spider Man and his friends, Scarlet Spider and Spider Woman were in Central Park, waiting.

They had been waiting for an while and Scarlet Spider was getting testy. "When is Raven gonna show up?"

"She said she'd be here soon." Spider Man said.

"That's what you said a half hour ago, punk."

The trio have been waiting for Raven Queen, the kind daughter of the Evil Queen, to come to their city for Valentine's Day, saying that she's bringing a special guest.

Spider Woman, Mary Jane Watson, saw Spider Man holding a box of chocolates.

"So, Spidey, what's this Raven Queen like?" asked Spider Woman.

"Oh, she's awesome, MJ!" Spider Man answered right away. "She knows magic, is super cool, and her looks don't hurt either!"

"Really?" Spider Woman said, crossing her arms.

"Wow, I never pegged you for the jealous type." said Scarlet Spider.

"Jealous? Me?" Spider Woman scoffed. "Yeah, right."

The magic well appeared before the heroes.

"Here she comes!" Spider Man backed up.

A moment later, Raven Queen was shot out of the well and a new face he's never seen before.

It was a girl with pink hair, pink dress, pink lipstick, pink shoes, pink eye shadow. Everything about her was pink.

There was even a big pink heart on top of her head.

But she had wings on her back, like the wings of an angel.

The girl grabbed Raven's hand and used her wings to glide both of them safely onto the ground.

"Whoa!" Spider Mab was in awe. Was this an angel?!

"Hey, guys!" Raven waved with a smile. "Happy Valentine's Day."

"Happy Valentine's Day, Raven." Spider Man greeted. "Who's your friend?"

"Guys, this is Cupid, daughter of Eros, the god of love." Raven introduced.

Cupid proudly smiled.

"Whoa, back up! You're Cupid?! Like, _the_ Cupid?!" Spider Woman exclaimed.

"Well, I don't know about _the_ Cupid, but I am Cupid nonetheless." Cupid said sweetly.

"I didn't know Cupid was in fairytales." Spider Man said.

"I'm not, but I do help people fall in love whenever they can and help them listen to their true hearts." Cupid put a hand on her chest. "And my father said that this city needs my help on this Valentine's Day."

"Sounds festive." Spider Man said. "Speaking of which, these are for you, Raven." He handed her the heart-shaped box of candy.

"Aw! Thanks, Spidey!" Raven gladly took the box. "That's so sweet."

Mary Jane felt very annoyed.

"So, Cupid. What kind of work are you up to here?" asked Spider Man.

"Oh, just a little of this and a little of that." Cupid said. "Some people here just need my touch."

"So, you're here to shoot people with your arrows?" Scarlet Spider pointed to the golden quiver that hung from Cupid's shoulder.

"Oh, no! I never use my arrows unless it's an emergency." Cupid tugged on the quiver. "These are very powerful arrows, one shot and you'll go loopy in love! So, I just match make the old fashioned way."

"Yeah, she's an expert on love advice." Raven said. "And a few other love tricks."

"Well, what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Spider Man said.

"You guys go ahead, I'm heading back to the Triskelion." Scarlet Spider said.

Cupid suddenly flew in front of him. "Why don't you want to come?" asked the young demi-goddess.

"I don't do love." Scarlet Spider replied.

"Don't mind him." Spider Man said. "Scarlet's the tough guy of the group, he's not into that kind of mushy stuff."

"Hmm, may while I'm out, I can find a match for you." Cupid proposed.

Silence.

Then Spider Man burst out laughing.

"You make a match for him?!" the masked teen held his stomach, laughing. "Yeah, right!"

Scarlet Spider unsheathed his stingers. "Do I have to slit your throat open to shut you up?"

The hero immediately clammed up. Even Spider Man's smart enough not get on Scarlet's bad side.

The brooding spider walked away.

"Poor guy." Cupid said.

"Anyway, we better get going, Cupid." said Raven. "Times a'wasting!"

"And I'll happily give you a tour, Cupid." Spider Man offered. "If you don't mind, Raven." He offered his hand.

"Not at all." Raven took the hero's hand.

Spider Woman watch the three walk off, but she was mostly looking at Peter holding Raven's hand.

"I'll go too." said Spider Woman, following them.

* * *

In the city, a couple sitting at a cafe were arguing.

"You never want to do anything I want to do!" the girl said.

"What?! I got these tickets for the monster truck rally for us, Baby!"

"I-" the girl stopped in mid-sentence. "I..." she sighed. "you're right. I'm sorry, Baby. It's just...I've never been to oneof those! I don't know what to expect."

The guy put an arms around her. "Don't worry about a thing, Hon. You'll love it, trust me!"

The couple reconciled and shared a drink together.

Cupid was hiding around a corner. "Saved that one."

"Wow! You just point at someone and they fall back in love?" Spider Man said.

"Something like that." said Cupid. "People often forget about what's important in life. All I did was remind them."

The gang went all around New York helping one couple at a time. Cupid gave advice and pointed her finger left and right.

People all over the city were enjoying Valentine's Day with healed and happy hearts.

Cupid wiped her forehead. "Phew! What a day!"

"I'll say! We've been all over the place." Raven said as everyone casually walked downtown together.

A man came by with an armful of roses. "Would you lovely ladies like to buy a rose?"

"I'll take two!" Spider Man said.

The man gave him two roses and Spider Man paid him his fee.

"Thanks!" The man walked away, satisfied.

"Here, Raven. For you." He gave Raven a rose.

Now Mary Jane was about snap. She tried her hardest not to explode.

"Thanks, Spi-" When Raven touched it, the flower bent over and wilted. "dey..."

"Whoa!" Spider Woman gasped.

"What happened?!" asked Spider Man.

"It's...a dark queen thing." Raven said after an exasperated sigh." "Flowers tend to die in my presence."

Spider Man cocked his head back. "Seriously?!"

"Yeah, it's not easy being the Evil Queen's daughter." Raven said sadly. "People are just naturally afraid of you."

"Not everyone." Cupid said. "We love you, Raven. Because of you, many people have learned to open their true hearts to better destinies."

"She's right." said Spider Man. "We all know how good you are, Raven."

Raven smiled. "Thanks, guys."

But suddenly, Scarlet Spider came hurdling towards them! The hero crashed into Cupid, knocking off her quiver.

Two female villains came strutting towards them.

It was Shriek and Thundra. They had just robbed a bank and were carrying sackfuls of money.

"So, there's our favorite bug brain." Shriek sneered. "I thought there was something off about this black and red Spider Man.

"Oh, great." Spider Man said, helping Scarlet Spider up. "There's nothing worse than a couple of femme fatales on Valentine's Day."

Thundra eyed Cupid's belongings. "Huh. Well, lookie here."

"NO! DON'T TOUCH THOSE!" Cupid flew towards them.

Shriek jumped in front of her and was about to release a sonic blast.

"NO!" Spider Man and Scarlet Spider charged in without thinking and everyone collided into each other.

When the dust cleared, Cupid opened her eyes and saw Spider Man shielding her.

Scarlet Spider tackled Shriek hard to the ground.

"You okay?" asked Spider Man.

Cupid nodded slowly. "Y-Yes, thank you."

Scarlet Spider got up. "Okay, punk. Hand over the money!"

But when Shriek got up, she gazed at Scarlet Spider and smiled. "Hello, hot stuff."

Scarlet Spider flinched a little. "Excuse me?"

Shriek tossed aside the stolen loot and batted her eyelashes. "How about you and me doin' something beautiful, Scarlet?"

"Uh, Scarlet. Look." Spider Man pointed to the ground.

The hero saw Cupid's arrows scattered around Shriek's feet.

"I think...she landed on one." Cupid deduced.

Scarlet Spider felt like dying.

"So, what do you say, you bad boy?" Shriek cooed.

"Uh, I don't think Scarlet's your type, Shriek!" Spider Man said. "You should give him some space!" He shot his webs at her, but Shriek used her powers to blow then and Spider Man away.

She turned her attention back to Scarlet. "How about you give me a hug, you dark, brooding man!" She swung her arms to hug him, but Scarlet jumped away.

"Wait! Come back!" Shriek chased after him.

Spider Man and Scarlet Spider retaliated by webbing the love-crazed villainess to the street.

"Oooh, I never knew you this kinky, Scarlet..." Shriek cooed.

Scarlet Spider groaned in agony. "I think I'm gonna puke..."

"I'm getting out of here!" Thundra was going to run, but bumped into a boy with short brown hair with a cowlick. He wore a blue jacket, grey pants and a small, headband-like, gold crown and glasses.

But his glasses got knocked off his face when he bumped into the super villain.

"DEXTER?!" Raven shouted.

The boy called Dexter groaned, putting a hand on his forehead.

Thundra snarled and was about to smack the boy away. "Out of my way, you little-"

But when Dexter looked up at her, Thundra stopped like someone shot her.

She stared into Dexter's deep blue eyes. Her eyes were drawn to his, they were glorious. She felt her mind soar into the clouds.

"Oh, my..." Thundra gushed. She fainted with a loud **thud!**

Spider Man and Spider Woman all gaped in shock. What just happened?!

They watched the boy pick up his glasses and put them on. "Whoa!" Dexter stepped back. "Did I do that?!"

"Dexter!" Raven ran to him and embraced him. "Oh, Dexter! Thank goodness you're alright!" She looked at him. "But what are you doing here?!"

Dexter adjusted his glasses, trying not to fumble his words. "Uh, w-well, uh, today's Valentine's Day and I wanted to give you...give you..." He looked to the side and picked up the bouquet of flowers he dropped. "Give you these."

It was a bouquet of the most enchanting purple flowers Raven had ever seen.

"Oh, Dexter! They're beautiful!" Raven took them without thinking. She gasped. "They're not wilting!"

Dexter smiled. "Yeah, I made them in Science and Sorcery class. They're reinforced with a strong counter curse, making them impervious to dark magic. So they won't be dying out on you."

"Oh, thank you, Dexter!" Raven was beaming with joy. "This is the best Valentine's gift I ever got!"

She kissed him on the lips.

Dexter almost fainted himself.

"Uh, guys. Kind of confused here!" Spider Woman said.

Raven unhooked her lips from Dexter's. "Oh! Right!" She pulled him over to them. "Spider Man, this is my boyfriend, Dexter Charming."

"Boyfriend?!" Spider Woman exclaimed before Spider Man could.

"Well, we did go out on a date or two..." Dexter replied, bashfully scratching the back of his head.

"What did you do to Thundra?!" asked Spider Man. "She just passed out!"

Dexter sighed. "It's my...magic touch. Every member of the Charming family has one. With me, girls always swoon when I take off my glasses."

"Swoon?"

"Yeah,"

"So...you just take off your glasses and girls literally fall for you?!"

"Exactly. But I prefer not to do it." Dexter replied a bit sternly. "It's best to have someone like you for you, not because you enchant them with your eyes."

"I couldn't agree more." said Raven. "I just can't believe you went this far out of your way, just to give me some flowers!"

"When I heard you were gone, I got worried!" Dexter said. "I talked to Maddie and she told me you were in this New York place. Then she took me to the magic well and...here I am."

"Speaking of magic," Scarlet Spider said. "anyway to snap this punk out of her love trance?"

"Well, the effect wears off in a week." Cupid said.

"A week? I won't be able to live that long." He sneered at Shriek, who was smooching and blowing kissed at him. "Can you make this wear off faster?"

"Well, I do have one thing..."

* * *

At the SHIELD Triskelion, Shriek and Thundra were taken in. With Shriek held up in her cell, Cupid gave a white rose to Scarlet Spider.

"This is a mood rose." Cupid said. "Give her this and hopefully she'll return to normal."

"Hopefully..." Scarlet Spider grumped. He entered the cell and there was Shriek.

"A flower for me?" Shriek sighed. "What a man!"

"Yeah, yeah. Just take the stupid flower." Scarlet never felt so embarrassed in all his life.

Shriek happily took the flower. Her face fell as the rose turned black and the petals fell off.

"Huh?!" Shriek rubbed her eyes. "What the-?!"

Scarlet quickly placed secure hand restraints on Shriek and shoved her back in her cell. Then the spider closed the door behind him.

"So, there was no love in her heart." Cupid said sadly. "That's what the mood rose indicated."

"It couldn't be more right." Scarlet Spider said.

"Yeah, I liked it better when Shriek hated us!" Spider Man said. "Sorry if this Valentine's Day was a little hectic."

Cupid shook her head. "Oh, no. Everything turned out okay and I did my job here." she looked at her heart-shaped wristwatch. "Whoa! We better get going!"

* * *

The Web Warriors and their guests returned to Central Park, where the magic well was waiting for them.

"Thanks for stopping by, Raven." said Spider Man.

"No problem, Spidey." Raven hugged him. "Your world is just full of surprises!"

"And I'm sorry about the arrows, Scarlet Spider." Cupid said. "Love can be a very powerful thing."

"I already know that." Scarlet Spider gruffed. "Spider Man taught me that."

"I did?"

"Of course." Scarlet Spider turned to him. "As crazy as this sounds, being friends with you gave me a better life. A lot better than being Ock's lap dog."

Spider Man knew his friend was right. There are all kinds of love, and friendship was the kind of love Spider Man excels at the most.

"Time to go, guys." Dexter took Raven's hand.

"See ya, Spidey!" Raven and Dexter jumped in together.

"Bye!" Cupid waved goodbye and dove in.

Then the well vanished.

"Good thing Valentine's Day comes once a year." said Scarlet Spider. "Let's go, punks."

"You go on, Scarlet." Spider Man said. "MJ and I have something to take care of."

After a confused glance, Scarlet shrugged it off and left.

"Huh?" Spider Woman looked at her friend. "What's up, Pete?"

"I thought I'd give my girl a rose." He held up the second rose to Mary Jane.

Mary Jane took a step back. "You...got a rose...for me?!"

"Yeah. Why did you think I got two of them?" Peter said as he took the rose.

"But...what about Raven?"

Spider Man tilted his head. "What do you mean? Raven's my friend so I gave her one. But I wanted to you have one and maybe invite you to dinner?"

And for the first time, Mary Jane Watson felt happy on this special Valentine's Day.

"I'd love to." The girl took Spider Man hand the the two walked through the park together.


End file.
